Fringing-machine.



PATENTED JAN. 13

A. S. HORLAGHER. FRINGIN G MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 25, 1901.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

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ATTORNEY.

- PATENTED JAN A. S. HORLAUHER. FRINGING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 26, 1901.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

no MODEL.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY.

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PATENTED JANQ13, 1903;

A. s. HORLAOHER.

- FRINGING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 26, i901.

no MODEL.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WITNESSES A m/mgr.

co, FNOYQ-LITHO WASHINGTON o A. S. HORLAGHER. FRINGIN G MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 26, 1901.

No. 718,459. PATENTED JAN. 13, 1903.

30 MODEL. 6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

WITNESSES 1 VENTOR. #150. )WM

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ADAM S. I-IORLACHER, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

FRlNGlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 718,459, dated January 13, 1903.

Application filed April 26, 1901 Serial No. 57,622. (No model.)

To ctZL' whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ADAM S. HORLACHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rug-Material-Fringing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to certain new and useful improvements in mechanism for fraying or raveling carpet or other fabric that has been previously divided into strips of the required width to form fringed or frayed edges thereof to be used as arug material; and the said improvement consists in a peculiar construction and combination of mechanism for feeding the material to and conducting it from the machine, for fraying or raveling and removing all dust, dirt, and worn fiber from the fringed edge of the material for'trimming the fringe to a uniform width, and for separating the dirt and light fluffy material from the refuse warp or ravelings, all of which mechanism will be hereinafter more fully set forth, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a mechanism that will rapidly fray or ravel the edges of carpet strips to form fringes on the edges thereof simultaneously, to remove the" dirt, dust, and worn fiber from the fringe of said fabric, so as to restore, expose, or renew the original colors of said fabric, to loosen and remove the warp from the fabricwithout cutting the same, and finally for separating the dirt and dust from said warp, so that its original state be preserved as much as possible to be used for commercial purposes. I attain these objects by means of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which similar numerals of reference designate like parts throughout the several views.

Figure l is a part-sectional side elevational view of the machine, taken through the line A B (see Figs. 2 and 3) and looking in the direction of the arrow a. Fig. 2 is a similar part-sectional View taken through the line C D (see Figs. 1 and 3) and looking in the direction of the arrow b. Fig. 3 is a part-sectional plan View of the machine and taking said section through the line E F. (See Figs.

1 and 2.) Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail perspective view of the supporting-arm of the lubricating-pad for lubricating the trimmingshears. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail perspective view of the conductor and yielding retainingfinger-bars. Fig. 6 is an enlarged side elevational view of one of the pairs of trimming-shears, Fig. 7 is a plan view of the same, showing their positions relatively to each other. Fig. 8 is a view of the fabric, showing the different stages offorming the fringe on the edges thereof to form the rug material; Fig. 9 is a detail broken-off side elevational view of the upper yielding hearing of the upper feed-roller shaft. Fig. 10 is a detail broken sectional end and an end view of one of the pairs of bearings of the raveling-disk shafts and showing the enlarged collar-receiving bearing thereof. Fig. 11 is a detail broken view of one of the raveling-disk shafts and having a raveling-disk mounted on the end thereof and showing the end bearing in dotted lines. Fig. 12 is a detail perspective view of the straightening block and hook and showing the ribbon of carpet material passing between said hook and rounded surface of said straightening-block, and Fig. 13 shows end and side elevational views of the fulcrum or supporting bracket or stand of the shear-lever.

The frame of the machine is preferably constructed of angle; irons of the proper strength and is composed of the top rectangular frame 1, the vertical corner-supporting angle-bars 2, which are inclined or tapered outwardly at their bottom ends and are braced or tied at or near said bottom ends by the angle-bars 3, all of which angles are connected or secured together to form a rigid frame structure by rivets or other suitable fastenlngs.

The main or driving shaft 4 is journaled in the bearings 5, which are rigidly secured to the top angle-bars of the top rectangular frame 1, and,on one of the outer ends of said shaft is mounted the fast and loose driven pulleys 6 and 7 and on the opposite end of said shaft is keyed or otherwise secured the step-pulley 8 8. The Worm 9 is secured on the main shaft 4. and meshes with the wormwheel 10, which latter is keyed or otherwise secured on the feed-disk shaft 12, which lat- ICO ter shaft is situated at right angles with said main shaft 1 and is mounted in the bearings 13, also secured to the angle-irons of the top rectangular frame 1 and the cross-bar 14 of said frame.

The shaft 12 is retained in its position and prevented from moving in a longitudinal direction in its bearings 13 by its retaining-collars 15, which are situated near the ends of said shaft and in position thereon to bear against the inner sides of the bearings 13. The feed disk or roller 16 is provided with the groove or channel 17, which is formed centrally around the peripheral surface thereof, and the peripheral edges of said disk or feedroller are serrated, fluted, or toothed, as shown in Fig. 1, with their squared faces leading or in advance of their sloping backs when the said disk or roller 16 is rotating in its proper direction of rotationthat is, in a direction to feed the material through the machine-and by this form and arrangement of gripping-teeth of said roller 16, and also the central groove thereof, which cooperates with said teeth, the rug material is more positively held as it is fed into the machine and when in the machine is prevented from slipping sidewise by reason of the central portion of the rug material being forced into the groove 17 between the peripheral teeth of the roller, which effectually hold the material in position. The roller 16 is firmly secured on the prolonged overhanging end of the shaft 12 to turn therewith. The upper feed disk or roller 18 has a smooth peripheral surface and is also provided with a central peripheral groove or channel 19, and the said disk or roller is secured on the shaft 20 on the prolonged overhanging end thereof directly above its companion feed-roller 16, with its axis parallel with the latter, and the said shaft 20 is provided with the collars 21, which prevent a longitudinal movement of the same and maintain the roller 18 in its proper position. The shaft 20 is yieldingly mounted in its bearings 22, formed integral on the supportingstandards 23, which latter are formed integra on the bearings 13. Between the top bearings 24 of the shaft 20 and the retaining-cap 25 are interposed the springs 26, which permit said top bearings to yield with the shaft 20 when a seam or union of the ends of two strips of rug material pass between the rollers 16 and 18, and said caps 25 are held in position by their retaining-cap bolts 27. The fraying or raveling disks 28 are situated one on each side of the feed-rollers 16 and 18, with their axes at right angles with the axes of said feed-rollers, and are in position relatively to said feed-rollers, so that theline joining their centers will pass through the point of contact of said feed-rollers 16 and 18 and said joining-lines will be at right angles with each other. The fraying or raveling disks 28 are provided with the teeth 29, which are constructed so that their operating sides or faces are radial with the center of said disks and at right angles with the sides thereof. Thus said teeth present a flat blunt surface to the rug material as the latter passes through and between the feed-rollers 16 and 18 to ravel and remove the warp from the edges of said material Without cutting or severing the same. The raveling-disks 28 are each mounted on the ends of the parallel shafts 30 to turn therewith, and said shafts are adapted to rotatein their bearings 31 and 32. One side of the bearings 31 is enlarged and counterbored to receive the shaft-collar 33, and thus admit of the disks 28 being mounted on said shafts, so as to contact with the end of said hearing, or nearly so, which form of construction is provided for the purpose or presenting a dead or non-revoluble center to the ravelings as they are removed from the rug material and to prevent them winding around their shafts, which would be the result were the shafts of said disks exposed. The front o'r outer pair of bearings 31 and 32 and the rear or inner pair of bearings 31 and 32 are each connected or tied by a brace-bar 34, which is preferably formed integral with said pair of bearings, so that the pairs of bearings 31 and 32 thus connected may be adjusted simultaneously and moved in their Ways 35 nearer to or farther from the feed-rollers 16 and 18, according as larger or smaller fraying-disks are used, and the perfeet alinement and parallelism of the axes of said disks are secured by the ways 35, in which said bearing-boxes are fitted. The ways 35 are formed in the top surface of the bed-plate 36 and are adapted to receive the bases of said bearings 31 and 32, which are accurately fitted thereto, and said bed-plate is firmly secured to the top angle-frame 1 and the crossbar 14: and is slotted at its central portion to clear the feed-roller 16. The trimming-shears are composed of the right and left bottom fixed shear-blades 37, which have their cutting edges in alinement with the top of the periphery of the feed roller 16, and said shear-blades are provided with the distancetoes 38, bymeans of which the distances of the faces of said shears are set from the sides of said roller 16 and which serve the purpose of guides to direct the fringed edges of the rug material directly over the edges of said shears, and said shears are provided with the feet 39, which are bolted to the bed-plate 36, so as to be adjustable and capable of being set nearer to or farther from the feed-roller 16, and the top shear-blades are pivoted on said shears 37 in such a manner that their inner cutting edges coincide with the outer cutting edges of the bottom shear-blades 37, and said shears 40 are so formed that their cutting edges will begin to shear at a point near to their pivotal points and then gradually shear toward the points of said shear-blades as the shears close. The shears 40 are provided with the short arms 11, to the ends of which are pivoted the bottom ends of the connecting-rods 42, and these latter are pivoted at their top ends to the end ICS of the lever 43 to cause the simultaneous operation of the shears 40. The lever 43 is pivoted at a point intermediate between its ends on the fulcrum-pin 44, which latter is secured in and supported by its fulcrum or supporting bracket 45. The fulcrum-bracket 45 is bent over and around the lever 43 at its top end in order to contact with the sides thereof and form side guides for the said oscillating lever 43 to steady the same and to prevent side play, and said bracket has its legs 46 inclined outwardly toward their bottom ends to secure rigidity, and on said bottom ends are formed the feet 47, which rest on the crossbar 14 of the rectangular frame 1 and are securely bolted thereto. The eccentric-rod 48 is provided with the eccentric strap or ring 49, which is bored to receive the eccentric 50, which latter is adapted to freely work therein. The top end of the eccentric-rod is pivoted 'on the end 51 of the oscillating lever 43, and the eccentric is securely keyed on the main driving-shaft 4, and thus for each revolution of said shaft the oscillating lever 43 makes one oscillation. A lubricating-pad 52, composed of felt or other absorbing material satu rated with a suitable lubricant, is secured in position between the trimming-shears 37 and 40 on the free end of the spring-bar 53, which is of spring-steel or other yielding material and has its bottom or foot end secured to the bed-plate 36, and the said lubricator is thus yieldingly supported for the purpose of permitting the said pad 52 to give or yield when the top oscillating shear-blades 40 contact with it to prevent said shears being entangled with said pad. The said lubricatingpad is'of a width sufficient to contact with both the shears 4O simultaneously while the latter are making their upward oscillation.

A smoothing or straightening block 53*, havinga rounded outer face and on which face is secured the straightening-hook 54, is secured in a horizontal position to the frame of the machine below the throat or guide plate 55 and in such position relatively thereto that threat or guide plate 55 is secured on the inclined or sloping top surface of the casing 56,

and the said casing is provided for the purpose of completely inclosing the fraying or raveling disks 28 and the top portion of the feed-roller 16. The top portions 57 of the easing 56 are hinged to said casing to open fiat on the sloping top thereof, and thereby permit said hinged casings to swing sufficiently far back to provide ample room to permit theremoval of the raveling-disks 28 when the teeth 29 thereof are worn to a sharp, rough, or cutting edge and when it is required to file their faces to a square blunt edge in order that the material be not cutinto'short strips, the object of the form of blunt teeth, formed as previously described, being to preserve the original length of the warp-ravelings. The front yieldbracket 59 and provided with the guidingfingers 60, which press or bear upon the unsupported overhanging edges of the rug material on the roller 16 to partially double the same over the periphery of the latter, and thereby guide and direct the ribbon or strip 54 of rug material evenly and straightly and centrally upon said roller. A similar yielding finger-bar 61Yis secured to the bed-plate 36 and has its fingers 62 situated on the delivery side of the roller 16, and the said fingers are provided for the purpose of guiding the material truly and evenly over the cutting edges of the shears 38 by causing said material to hug or adhere to the periphery of said roller till it has passed over the edges of said shears 38, after which said material is directed downwardly by the downwardly-bent end of the finger-bar 61 upon the chute 63 to be discharged into a suitable receptacle.

The next important feature of this inven tion consists in the means whereby the weft and other ravelings, the dirt, and the dust in the rug material are removed from the rollers l6 and 18 and the fraying or raveling disks 28 to be received into the separatingchamber 64. Any suitable sheeting, preferably zinc or sheet-iron, of the proper size is fittedin and between the angles constituting the supporting-frame of the machine, and is secured thereto to form an air-tight chamber. A depending diaphragm 65, situated centrally in the said chamber, extends downwardly to or about midway between the top and bottom ends of said separating-chamber 64 to divide the top portion of said chamber into two compartments 64 and 64". Theexhaust-fan 66 is situated in the separating-chamber 64 directly under the chamber 64", and said fan is provided with the inlet-pipe 67, which extends upwardly till its inlet end approaches the top of said chamber 64", so that the area of the space between the inlet end of said pipe and the top of the chamber 64 will be equal in area to the area of said pipe, or nearly so, and by this arrangement of the stand-pipe 67 the current of air must first circulate downwardly in the chamber 64 around the diaphragm 65, at which :point the dirt is sepa- It will be noted that 16 are restricted to the clearance-openings around the bottom portion of the roller 16, so that a strong current of air therethrough carrying with it all loose'fluffy particles removed from the rug material and completely I stripping the fraying or raveling disks 28 of any material that might adhere to their teeth.

A drive-belt 69 extends from the pulley S to the fan-pulley to drive the latter, and a similar belt 71 encircles the step-pulley 8 and extends from the latter pulley to and over the pulley 72 and thence under and around the pulley 73, as shown clearly in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and in full lines in Fig. 3, by which means the fraying or raveling disks 28 are simultaneously driven in the direction indicated by the arrows-that is, in opposite direction of rotation.

The carpet or other textile fabric to be used as a rug material is first cutinto strips of the required width, and the ends of these are stitched or otherwise connected together to form a long continuous strip or unbroken band. One end of the band or strip is passed through the straightening-hook 54, with its face bearing on the rounded face of the straightening-block 53,thence into the throatplate 55, and underneath the finger-bar 5S, and under the fingers 61 of the latter, and to and between the feed-rollers 16 and 18, at which point the fraying-disks 28, engage the edges of the material to remove the warp therefrom and clean the weft-threads by removing the outer worn fiber or rotted and faded threads therefrom to expose the inner or hidden fiber material of which the carpet is composed, the original color of which has been preserved. The refuse, dirt, and ravelings so removed are then carried into the settling-chamber 64 to be operated upon, as previously described. The rug material in passing under the fingers 62 of the fingerbar 61 is pressed firmly upon the cutting edge of the shears 37, and the oscillating shears 4O shear off the uneven or irregular projecting ends or portions of the fringe, and the material passes through the machine, after which shearing said ribbon falls upon the chute 63, from whence it is discharged into a suitable receptacle.

The upper shears 40 are pivoted or fulcrumed on their pivotal or fulcrum pins 40 and the coil-springs 40 are interposed between said top shears and the retaining-nuts 40, screwed on the ends of said pivotal pins, and the said upper shear blades or jaws are thus permitted to yield sidewise, so that when any unshearable or hard foreign material not capable of being sheared is carried into the machine with the rug material said shears will yield and permit such material to pass through without breaking or dulling the said shears.

Having thus fully described this my invention, what I claim as new and useful, and desire to cover by Letters Patent of the United States therefor, is

1. In a rug-material-raveling machine, the combination with a pairof oppositely-rotating raveling-di'sks each of which is provided with peripheral teeth, each of said teeth having one of its edges extending radially with relation to the axis of the disks and made blunt to prevent a cutting action, of a pair of feedrollers arranged between said raveling-disks for presenting the material to said disks in a plane at right angles to the plane of rotation of the disks.

2. In a rug-material-raveling machine, the combination with a pair of oppositely-rotating raveling-disks each of which is provided with peripheral teeth, each of said teeth having one of its edges extending radially with relation to the axes of the disks and made blunt to prevent a cutting action, of a pair of feedrollers arranged between said raveling-disks for presenting the material to said disks in a plane at right angles to the plane of rotation of the disks, said feed-rollers being provided with peripheral grooves, the lower of said feed-rollers having a toothed periphery and being positively driven.

3. In a rug-material-raveling machine, the combination with a pair of oppositely-rotating raveling-disks each of which is provided with peripheral teeth, each of said teeth having one of its edges extending radially with relation to the axes of the disks and made blunt to prevent a cutting action, of a pair of feedrollers arranged between said raveling-disks and having their axes at rightangles to the axes of said raveling-disks, said feed-rollers each having its periphery provided with a groove registering with the groove of the other.

4. In a rug-material-raveling machine, the combination with a pair ofoppositely-rotating ravelingdisks each of which is provided with peripheral teeth, each of said teeth having one of its edges extending radially with relation to the axes of the disks and made blunt to prevent a cutting action, of a pair of feedrollers arranged between said raveling-disks for presenting the material to said disks in a plane at right angles to the plane of rotation of the disks, the upper of said feed-rollers being yieldingly supported, and the lower one fixed.

5. In a rug-material-raveling machine, the combination with a raveling-disk having peripheral raveling or picker teeth, of a shaft, a collar and a bearing in which said shaft rotates, and a housing on said bearing inclosing said collar and abutting against the side of said raveling-disk, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a rug-material-raveling machine, the combination with a pair of revoluble ravelingdisks and a pair of feed-rollers interposed between said disks, said latter rollers having their axes at right angles with the axes of said disks, and means situated at each side of said feed-rollers for trimming the opposite edges of the rug materialsimultaneously while the latter is being delivered from the rollers.

7. In a rug-material-raVeling machine, the combination with a pair of revoluble feedrollers, of a shear situated on each side of said feed-rollers and operated to trim the material to a uniform width as it passes through said rollers.

8. In a rug-material-raveling machine, the combination with a pair of revoluble feedrollers, of a fixed shear situated on each side of said feed-rollers, a movable shear yield ingly pivoted to said fixed shear, and means for operating said movable shear.

9. In a rug-material-raveling machine, the combination with a pair of revoluble feedrollers, and a shear situated on each side of said feed-rollers, of a lubricating means situated in position between said shears whereby the latter are simultaneouslylubricated while in operation.

10. In a rug-material-raveling machine,the combination with a pair of revoluble feedrollers, and a shear situated on each side of said feed-rollers, of a lubricating-pad yieldingly supported in position between said shears whereby the latter are regularly and uniformly lubricated while they are in operation.

11. In a rug-material-raveling machine,the combination with a pair of revoluble feedrollers, of a yielding finger-bar situated above and on the leading side of said under feedroller and having its fingers adapted to rest on the overhanging and unsupported edges of the rug material, as it passes between said feed-rollers, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

12. In a rug-material-raveling machine,the combination with a pair of feed-rollers, of a guide or throat plate, and a finger-bar supported at one end above said guide-plate and having its free bifurcated yielding end fingers bearing upon the edges of the rug material overhanging the side of the feed-roller as it passes between the said feed-rollers, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

13. In a rug-material-raveling machine,the combination with a pair of revoluble upper and lower feed-rollers and a fixed shearing means on each side of said bottom roller, of a yielding finger-bar situated above the delivering side of said bottom roller and having its fingers adapted to rest on the unsupported edges of the fringed material to firmly contact the same with the edges of the said shearing means as the material is discharged from said feed-rollers. 1

14. In a rug-material-raveling machine,the combination with a raveling mechanism, of a closed settling-chamber having a separatingdiaphragm situated centrally in the top thereof to divide the top portion of said chamber into separate compartments, said diaphragm extending downwardly from the top of said chamber to a point intermediate the top and bottom of the latter, and means whereby the dirt and light material are carried into the first compartment of said settling-chamber down and under said diaphragm and upwardly into the secondary compartment to be exhausted therefrom while the weightier ravelings are permitted to settle in the bottom of said settling-chamber.

15. In a rug-material-raveling machine,the combination with a pairof oppositely-rotating shafts situated parallel to each other and provided with end driven pulleys situated in the same plane and in alinement with each other, of a driving-pulley having its axis parallel with the axes of said shafts, and a driving-belt, as described, connecting said driving-pulley and said driven pulleys whereby said parallel shafts are caused to rotate simultaneously in opposite directions.

16. In a rug-material-raveling machine,the combination with raveling mechanism, of a closed settlingchamber adapted to receive the discharge from said mechanism, a diaphragm depending from the upper portion of said chamber to a point intermediate the top and bottom thereof, whereby the upper portion of said chamber is divided into separate compartments,an exhausting device arranged in said chamber, and a pipe connected to said exhausting device and extending into one of said compartments, whereby the dirt and like material discharged into the other compartment is drawn beneath the diaphragm and upwardly to said pipe to be exhausted therethrough, while the weightier ravelings are caused to settle in the bottom of the settlingchamber.

17. In a rug-material-raveling machine,the combination with raveling mechanism, of a casing inclosing the same and provided with a base-opening, a chamber located beneath said casing and connected at its top with the base-opening of said casing, a depending dividing-diaphragm located in said chamber and extending from the top portion thereof downwardly toward and near the bottom of said chamber to form a primary or settling. chamber, and a secondary or separating chamber, and air-exhausting means having its inlet or suction portion connected with the top portion of the secondary or separating chamber.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ADAM S. HORLAOHER. Witnesses:

THOMPSON R. BELL, WM. 0. MOROK. 

